闕

Phono-semantic compound composed of:

門 (문 문) — semantic component, meaning “gate” or “door.”

欮 (상기 궐) — phonetic component, providing the sound gwŏl / qüe and implying “to raise, to open, to lift up.”

The structure evokes the great ceremonial gates of ancient palaces — tall, open, and sacredly empty between two towers, symbolizing the sovereign’s presence beyond the threshold.

대궐 (大闕) — palace

궐위 (闕位) — vacancy of a throne or position

보궐 (補闕) — filling a vacancy (e.g., by-election)

궐석 (闕席) — an empty seat, absence from assembly

In ancient Chinese architecture, 闕 referred specifically to the twin gate towers flanking the main entrance of an imperial palace or temple.

These towers framed an empty space in between — the “gap” (闕) — symbolizing reverence and separation from the mundane world.

「宮門兩闕，以示尊嚴。」

“Two gate towers stand before the palace to show solemn majesty.”

Because the central space was physically vacant, the same character came to mean “an absence” or “a missing part,” leading to the abstract senses of “vacancy” and “deficiency.”

In Korea, 대궐 (大闕) came to denote the royal palace as a whole — and the word remains in poetic and historical expressions like “대궐 같은 집.”

The imagery of 闕 — twin towers guarding an open space — conveys majesty through emptiness.

It embodies the paradox of power concealed by humility, presence through absence.

The empty gate of the palace was both a barrier and an invitation,

representing the threshold between the human and the sacred, between the realm of the people and that of the ruler.

「闕者，尊門之象也。」

“The 闕 symbolizes the gate of honor.”

As such, the word also came to mean moral deficiency or an unfulfilled position — a place awaiting proper order or virtue to fill it.